Shadow ball attachment for automatic pinsetters



March 10, 1964 D. a. ASMUTH I 3,124,354

SHADOW BALL ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PINSETTERS Filed Aug. 5, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 1 March 10, 1964 D. G. ASMUTH 3,124,354

SHADOW BALL ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMATIC PINSETTERS Filed Aug. 3, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent f 3,124,354 SHADQW BALL ATTACHMENTFGR AUTQMATIC PENSETTERS David George Asnruth, Walker Road andShoreaeres Drive, Hilton, NY. Filed Aug. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 129,039 7Claims. (Cl. 273-43) This invention relates to automatic pinsetters asused in bowling alleys.

At times it is desired to roll some practice balls, usually calledshadow balls, before beginning the actual game. In former years, whenbowling pins were set up by hand, the rolling of shadow balls presentedno particular problem. Under the present conditions, however, manybowling alleys use automatic pinsetters, so designed that rolling theball will start the cycle of operation of the machine and will set pinson the alley, thus taking extra time which should not be required if theplayers desire to roll a series of practice balls or shadow balls inquick succession, without pins.

Certain makes or models of automatic pinsetters do have provision forpermitting the rolling of shadow balls without causing the machine to gothrough its time-consuming cycle. But a certain other make or model ofpinsetter, now widely used, does not have any such provision.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide simple andelfective mechanism whereby this last mentioned make or model ofpinsetter can be operated in such a way that shadow balls will notresult in normal cyclical operation of the machine and setting of pins.

Another object of the invention is the provision of such mechanism in aform which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and which can beeasily and quickly installed on existing machines already in use, aswell as new machines hereafter constructed.

A further object is the provision of such mechanism so designed andconstructed that it can be operated with a minimum of time and effort onthe part of the bowling hall attendant.

These and other desirable objects may be attained in the mannerdisclosed as an illustrative embodiment of the invention in thefollowing description and in the accompanying drawings forming a parthereof, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a portion of the automaticpinsetter to which the present invention is applied, showing themechanism of the present invention in its usual ineffective or restposition which it occupies While regular games are being bowled;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with the present mechanism in its effectiveposition, permitting the rolling of shadow balls without causing themachine to perform its pinsetting cycle;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary top plan View and partial section approximatelyon the line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan and section approximately on the line 44 ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of another portion of thepinsetter above and forwardly of the portion seen in FIG. 1.

The present invention may be applied to any appropriate make or kind ofpinsetter, but the particular automatic pinsetter for which themechanism of the present invention is specifically intended, is knownthe Brunswick pinsetter, and is now widely used and well known. Thefollowing description of the present invention will refer to only a fewof the many parts of this existing pinsetter, since those skilled inthis art are already familiar with the basic machine and will readilyunderstand the 3,124,354 Patented Mar. to, 1964 present invention andits relation to the complete mechanism of the Brunswick pinsetter. Thegeneral features of the basic machine, at least insofar as necessary toan understanding of the present invention, are disclosed in Huck et al.Patent 2,949,300, granted August 16, 1960.

Referring now to the drawings of the present application, the basicpinsetter comprises a stationary frame member 141 (corresponding to themember 141 in the Huck patent) which projects upwardly and rearwardly atthe left hand side of the machine (there being a similar frame memberalso at the right hand side of the machine) and which carries at itsupper end a pivot bolt 11 on which is pivoted a pair of laterally spacedtriangular plates 132 (corresponding to the plates 132 in the Huckpatent).

The pivot 11 is near the forward corners of the triangular plates 132.At the upper rear corners of these plates is a pivot bolt 13 on which ispivoted the lower rear end of a pull rod or link which extends obliquelyforwardly and upwardly to connect with a pin 15 on the arm 131 of a bellcrank 126. The present arm 131 and bell crank 126 are the same as theparts bearing these same reference numerals in the Huck patent. Thepresent link 130 is the same as the link 130 in the Huck patent, exceptthat at the upper end of the link the slot 17 in the fixture 19 whichembraces the pin 15 is made somewhat longer than the corresponding slotin the patent and in the pinsetter as commercially constructedheretofore, in order to allow a greater extent of travel of the rod 130toward the bellcrank 126.

At the lower rear corners of the plates 132 is a third pivot bolt 21, towhich is pivoted the bar or arm 136 which supports one end of the pitcushion, not shown here but shown at 135 in the Huck patent. The presentbar 136 is the same as the bar 136 in the Huck patent, and because ofits shape it is sometimes referred to as the hockey stick.

According to the present invention, two similar plates 25 are arrangedparallel to and spaced from each other, and are firmly and rigidlyclamped to the stationary frame member 141 a little below the pivot bolt11 thereof. Clamping is conveniently accomplished by four bolts 27passing through the plates 25 and through spacer sleeves 29, to draw theplates firmly against two opposite faces of the stationary frame member141, which at this point has a rectangular cross section as seen in FIG.4. The sleeves 29 are of a length slightly less than the thickness ofthe frame member 141, so that the clamping pressure is exerted mainlyagainst the frame member rather-than against the ends of the sleeves.The bolt holes are so placed that two of the bolts are on one side ofthe frame member 141 with their sleeves tightly engaged with theadjacent face of the frame, while the other two bolts are on theopposite side of the frame with their sleeves tightly engaged with theopposite face of the frame. To allow for possible slight variations inthe cross sectional size of the frame member 141, in differentpinsetters, the spacing of the bolt holes in the plates 25 may be sodesigned that the sleeves 29 will engage opposite faces of the framemember 141 of the smallest size likely to be encountered. If thepinsetter to which the attachment is to be applied happens to have aframe member 141 of slightly larger cross section in a front to reardirection, then upon installation two of the sleeves 29 can be fileddown to form fiat spots (see the right hand sleeve in FIG. 4) until thesleeves will just engage snugly with the opposite faces of the framemember 141. With this arrangement it is seen that the plates 25 may beapplied to existing pinsetting machines already in the field, withoutboring any holes in the machine or damaging or weakening the machine inany way whatever, yet the plates 25 are clamped stationarily to themachine frame with sutficient rigidity to withstand the expectedpressures and impacts during use. Instead of forming fiat spots on thesleeves 29, these sleeves may be made eccentric, if desired, and may berotated until they engage firmly with opposite faces of the stationaryframe bar 141. Turning of the eccentric sleeves can also be utilized toadjust the angle of the bracket members slightly upwardly or downwardly.

In addition to the four clamping bolts 27, a fifth bolt 31 extendstransversely through the two plates 25 and serves as a pivot for thelatch dog or key 33 which is maintained in a plane centrally between thetwo plates 25 by two spacer washers 35 on the bolt 31. A stop member 41extending laterally across the bottom edges of the two stationary plates25 near their rear ends serves as an abutment to limit the swinging ofthe dog or key member 33 in a downward and rearward direction to theineffective or rest position shown in FIG. 1. Another stop member 43extending laterally across the top edges of the two stationary plates 25a little forwardly of the pivot 31 serves as an abutment to limit theswinging of the member 33 in an upward and forward direction to theeffective shadow bowling position shown in FIG. 2. The two stop members41 and 43 are secured to the plates 25 in any convenient manner,preferably being in the form of rods having their ends bent at rightangles so as to lie tight against the outer faces of the plates 25 andbeing welded, soldered, or brazed thereto.

The free end of the dog or key 33 is shaped as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,to have a sort of angular notch with one face or edge 45 extending in ageneral direction radially with respect to the pivot 31, and anotherface or edge 47 at an angle thereto and extending in a general directionapproximately perpendicular to a radial line from this edge to the pivot31.

In the normal operation of the pinsetting machine, when the pins havebeen set up ready for the beginning of a game, the pit cushion is in itslowest position with the supporting bars 136 thereof in their lowestposition and with the triangular plates 132 swung downwardly to theposition shown in FIG. 1. The bottom edge of the pit cushion issufficiently low so that it will be hit by the rolled ball, and it isthe impact of the ball against the pit cushion which initiates the nextcycle of the machine. During the cycle, the bell cranks 126 are operatedto pull the rods 130 forwardly and upwardly, thereby swinging thetriangular plates 132 upwardly on their pivots 11 and thereby raisingthe bars 136 to elevate the pit cushion far enough so that the ball maytravel rearwardly beneath the elevated cushion. The pit cushion thendescends to its lower position, and further operations and movements ofthe mechanism take place, the details of which are not important for thepurposes of the present invention.

If the triangular plates 132 can be held in the upper position, insteadof being allowed to descend in the normal way, a rolled ball will beable to pass freely below the lower edge of the pit cushion. There willstill be an impact of the ball against the cushion, because the velocityof the ball along the alley will cause it to strike the cushion beforeit drops downwardly into the pit and rolls under the cushion. But inthis elevated position of the cushion, the trigger mechanism (see parts140, 253, 243, etc., Huck patent) is inoperative as well understood bythose familiar with this make of machine, so that the impact of the balldoes not trigger the mechanism and does not start a pinsetting cycle ofoperation. (This is because the elevation of the pit cushion raises therod 139 and the rear end of the link 140 of the Huck patent,sufficiently far to withdraw the rear end of the slot 254 from the pin253 so that the slight forward motion of the link 1411, caused by impactof the ball against the cushion, will no longer operate the trigger.)The dog or key 33 of the present invention serves to hold the triangularplates 132 and the pit cushion arms 136 in the above mentioned elevatedposition, and it is in this way that the present invention serves itspurpose or object of enabling the rolling of shadow balls withouttriggering the pinsetting mechanism for normal operation, thereby savingthe extra time that would be required for cycling the machine, andavoiding operation of the game counters or registers.

The size of the dog is so proportioned that when the triangular plates132 are in their extreme uppermost posltion (somewhat above the positionillustrated in FIG. 2) the free end of the dog 33 can swingunobstructedly past the pivot 21 and past the hub portion of the bar 136which surrounds this pivot, and can swing forwardly un-- til the dogengages the fixed abutment 43. If the dog 18 held in this position untilthe pull on the link is released and the plates 132 start their downwardmovement, the pivot 21 and the surrounding hub of the bar 136 will comedown behind the face 45 of the dog (thus holding the dog againstswinging rearwardly and downwardly) and will come to rest on thesupporting face 47, which will hold the parts 21, 132, 136 in anintermediate position, not quite in their extreme uppermost position butnevertheless sufficiently elevated so that the cycle triggeringmechanism is rendered inoperative. Thus the ob ect of the invention isachieved.

Various arrangements can be utilized for moving the dog 33 to itseffective shadow bowling position and for moving it back to ineffectiveposition at the conclusion of shadow bowling. For example, an attendantstationed at the side of the machine can raise the bar 136 by hand andthen swing the dog upwardly to its effective position. The long slot 17at the forward end of the link 130 permits the bar 136 to be raised inthis way without movlng the bellcrank 126. Or again, the attendant mayoperate the starter button or switch to initiate the normal cycle ofoperation of the machine, and then in the course of this cycle, duringthe short interval that the triangular plates 132 dwell in theiruppermost position, the at tendant may swing the dog 33 up to itseffective posit1on and hold it there temporarily until the triangularplates start to descend. Other ways, including remote control ofmovement of the dog 33 by an electric solenoid, may be employed ifdesired.

It is preferred, however, to operate the dog 33 as fol lows: The pivotbolt 13 is extended leftwardly, to project beyond the left handtriangular plate 132, and on the leftward extension of the bolt there ispivotally mounted an arm 51 connected to one end of a coil tensionspring 53, the other end of which is connected to an angular sheet metalclip 55 held by the pivot bolt 11. Secured rigidly to the arm 51 is thelong arm 57 of a U-shaped loop of stiff wire, the other arm 59 of whichis considerably shorter. This loop cooperates with a pin 61 whichprojects laterally from the left side of the dog 33 near the free endthereof.

When it is desired to make the pinsetter ready for rolling shadow balls,the attendant pulls the arm rearwardly (clockwise when viewed from theleft as in FIG. 1) against the force of the spring 53, from the fullline position to the dotted line position of FIG. 1, meanwhile slightlyraising the dog 33 so that the pin 61 on the dog will clear the upperend of the arm 59 of the loop. When the dog 33 is manually released, thepin 61 will drop down into the loop, between the two arms 57 and 59thereof, and this will serve to retain the arm 51 in its approximatelyvertical position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, notwithstanding theforce of the spring 53.

The parts will remain in this pre-set position for an indefinite time,until the players are ready to begin. Assuming that the main motorswitch has been closed, so that the motor is idling, the first playerrolls the first practice ball or shadow ball. (Normally there are pinson the alley at this time.) The impact of the ball against the pitcushion triggers the machine in the normal way, to initiate a cycle, sothat the bellcrank 126 is operated to pull the rod 130 forwardly,thereby swinging the triangular plates 132 upwardly to their highestposition. This upward motion carries the arms 51, 57, 59 upwardly,carrying along the pin 61 so as to swing the dog 33 upwardly from theposition shown in FIG. 1 to the position shown in FIG. 2. Then as thecycle continues, the triangular plates 132 start to swing downwardly,and the pivot 21 and the hub surrounding it come down to the rear of theface 45 of the dog, preventing the dog from falling backwardly to itsnormal rest position or inoperative position. Further downward movementof the plates 132 and the pit cushion is soon stopped by engagement ofthe hub with the supporting face 47 of the dog. But shortly before suchengagement takes place, the plates 132 and the arms 51, 5'7, 59 havecome down far enough so that the top of the arm 59 clears the pin 61,and the spring 53 can now swing the arm 51 counterclockwise orforwardly, from the dotted line position to the full line position ofFIG. 2, so that the loop 57, 59 is no longer in alinement with the pin61.

As above explained, the dog 33 thus holds the pit cushion at anintermediate elevated position, not quite at the top of its range ofmovement but yet sufficiently high so that the triggering mechanism isrendered inoperative. All the other parts of the pinsetter mechanism maycomplete their full cycle of normal operation and come back to normalrest position, leaving only the pit cushion in an abnormal elevatedposition.

The players may now roll shadow balls for necessary practice beforebeginning the game. Although such balls do hit the pit cushion, theimpact does not initiate a new cycle, so the players can roll theirshadow balls in quick succession.

When the shadow bowling has been completed, the usual control button orswitch is operated, to initiate a cycle independently of the impact of aball against the pit cushion. During such a cycle, the bellcrank 126 isagain operated to pull the rod 130 forwardly to raise the triangularplates 132 to their highest position. This raises the pivot 21 and thesurrounding hub up above the face 45 of the dog 33, and allows the dogto drop back by gravity to its normal rest position shown in FIG. 1,which it will do because the center of gravity of the dog in its uprightposition (FIG. 2) is still somewhat to the rear of a vertical linethrough the pivot 31. Then with the dog 33 out of the Way, thetriangular plates 132 may now complete their full normal movement as thecycle continues, and may swing all the way down to their normal restposition, lowering the pit cushion bars 136 so that the pit cushion isdown in normal position, so that when it is struck by a rolled ball, theimpact will initiate another cycle in the normal manner.

Thus it is very simple and quick to make the pinsetter ready for rollingshadow balls, by simply engaging the pin 61 of the dog in the loop 57,59, and then the next cycle of operation will automatically leave thepit cushion suspended or elevated in the shadow ball position. To resumenormal bowling, the machine is simply cycled, without any furtherspecial attention or manual movement of the dog 33, and the dog willautomatically drop back to its normal ineffective position and remain inthis position until the pin 61 is once more engaged in the loop 57, 59.

It is seen from the foregoing disclosure that the above mentionedobjects of the invention are well fulfilled. It is to be understood thatthe foregoing disclosure is given by way of illustrative example only,rather than by way of limitation, and that without departing from theinven-. tion, the details may be varied within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bowling pinsetter machine of the type having a pit cushion movablebetween a lower position wherein impact of a ball against the pitcushion will trigger the machine to initiate a pinsetting cycle and anelevated position wherein impact of a ball against the pit cushion willbe ineffective to initiate a pinsetting cycle, a stationary framemember, and a plate pivoted to said frame member to swing upwardly anddownwardly to raise and lower the pit cushion, characterized by abracket stationary mounted on said frame member, and a support pivotallymounted on said bracket for swinging movement between an inoperativeposition and an operative position effective to hold said pivoted plateat a sufficiently elevated position to keep said pit cushionsufficiently elevated so that impact of a bowling ball will not initiatea pinsetting cycle, to permit the rolling of a shadow ball.

2. A bowling pinsetter machine of the type includ ing a stationary framemember, a triangular plate pivoted at one corner to said frame member, apit cushion supporting bar pivoted to a second corner of said plate, apull link pivoted to a third corner of said plate, and means for pullingsaid link to swing said plate upwardly to raise said bar to an upperposition wherein impact against a pit cushion connected thereto will beineffective to cause a pinsetting cycle of operation and for releasingsaid link to permit said plate to swing back downwardly to lower saidbar to a lower position wherein impact against a pit cushion connectedthereto will cause a pinsetting cycle of operation, characterized by theprovision of a bracket rigidly mounted on said frame member, and apivoted dog mounted on said bracket for swinging movement from anineffective position to an effective position blocking downward movementof said plate at an intermediate position thereof and holding said barat a sufficient elevation above its lower position so that impactagainst a pit cushion connected to said bar will be ineffective to causea cycle of operation, so that shadow balls for practice purposes may berolled without causing pinsetting cycles of operation.

3. A construction as defined in claim 2, further characterized by thefact that said dog is so formed that gravity tends to swing it back fromits effective position to its ineffective position and so that if saidlink is pulled to swing said plate upwardly while said dog is in itseffective blocking position, said dog will be released and willautomatically return by gravity to its ineffective position.

4. A bowling pinsetter machine of the type including a stationary framemember, a triangular plate pivoted at one corner to said frame member, apit cushion supporting bar pivoted to a second corner of said plate, apull link pivoted to a third corner of said plate, and means for pullingsaid link to swing said plate upwardly to raise said bar to an upperposition wherein impact against a pit cushion connected thereto will beineffective to cause a pinsetting cycle of operation and for releasingsaid link to permit said plate to swing back downwardly to lower saidbar to a lower position wherein impact against a pit cushion connectedthereto will cause a pinsetting cycle of operation, characterized by theprovision of a bracket rigidly mounted on said frame member, and apivoted dog mounted on said bracket for swinging movement from anineffective position to an effective position blocking downward movementof said plate at an intermediate position thereof and holding said barat a sufficient elevation above its lower position so that impactagainst a pit cushion connected to said bar will be ineffective to causea cycle of operation, so that shadow balls for practice purposes may berolled without causing pinsetting cycles of operation, and furthercharacterized by a pin projecting laterally from said dog, an armpivoted to said triangular plate and having an open loop thereon, saidpin and said loop being in such relation to each other that said pin maybe engaged in said loop while said triangular plate is in its lowerposition and that upon subsequent upward movement of said plate whilesaid pin is engaged in said loop, said arm and loop will swing said dogto its effective position and maintain it in its effective positionuntil said plate subsequently swings downwardly sufficiently far toengage said dog.

5. A construction as defined in claim 4, further characterized by springmeans tending to disengage said loop from said pin and effective tocause disengagement thereof when said plate swings downwardlysufficiently far to engage said dog and hold said dog in its effectiveposition without reliance upon said loop.

6. A shadow ball attachment for a bowling pinsetter of the typecomprising a stationary frame member, pit cushion supporting meansmovable upwardly and downwardly with respect to said frame member, andoperating means for elevating said supporting means to an upper positionwherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby isineffective to trigger a cycle of operation and for releasing saidsupporting means for return thereof by gravity to a lower positionwherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby iseffective to trigger a cycle of operation, said attachment comprising abracket adapted to be secured in stationary position on said framemember, and a dog pivotally mounted on said bracket for swingingmovement from an ineffective non-blocking position to an effectiveblocking position engaging said supporting means near the beginning ofits downward return movement to hold said supporting means at asufficient elevation so that a practice shadow ball may be rolledwithout triggering a cycle of operation notwithstanding rearwardmovement of the pit cushion upon impact of the ball.

7. A shadow ball attachment for a bowling pinsetter of the typecomprising a stationary frame member, pit cushion supporting meansmovable upwardly and downwardly with respect to said frame member, andoperating means for elevating said supporting means to an upper positionwherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby isineffective to trigger a cycle of operation and for releasing saidsupporting means for return thereof by gravity to a lower positionwherein rearward movement of a pit cushion supported thereby iseffective to trigger a cycle of operation, said attachment comprising abracket adapted to be secured in stationary position on said framemember, and a dog pivotally mounted on said bracket for swingingmovement from an ineffective non-blocking position to an effectiveblocking position engaging said supporting means near the beginnng ofits downward return movement to hold said supporting means at asufficient elevation so that a practice shadow ball may be rolledwithout triggering a cycle of operation nothwithstanding rearwardmovement of the pit cushion upon impact of the ball, said attachmentfurther comprising holding means mounted on said supporting means fordetachably engaging said dog to move the dog from ineffective positionto effective blocking position upon movement of said supporting meansupwardly to its upper position and for disengaging from said dog uponpartial downward movement of said supporting means to the elevationdetermined by the effective blocking position of said dog.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,559,274 Broekhuysen July 3, 1951 2,705,146 Montooth et a1 Mar. 29,1955 2,949,300 Huck et al. Aug. 16, 1960

1. A BOWLING PINSETTER MACHINE OF THE TYPE HAVING A PIT CUSHION MOVABLEBETWEEN A LOWER POSITION WHEREIN IMPACT OF A BALL AGAINST THE PITCUSHION WILL TRIGGER THE MACHINE TO INITIATE A PINSETTING CYCLE ANDELEVATED POSITION WHEREIN IMPACT OF A BALL AGAINST THE PIT CUSHION WILLBE INEFFECTIVE TO INITIATE A PINSETTING CYCLE, A STATIONARY FRAMEMEMBER, AND A PLATE PIVOTED TO SAID FRAME MEMBER TO SWING UPWARDLY ANDDOWNWARDLY TO RAISE AND LOWER THE PIT CUSHION, CHARACTERIZED BY ABRACKET STATIONARY MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME MEMBER, AND A SUPPORT PIVOTALLYMOUNTED ON SAID BRACKET FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT BETWEEN AN INOPERATIVEPOSITION AND AN OPERATIVE POSITION EFFECTIVE TO HOLD SAID PIVOTED PLATEAT A SUFFICIENTLY ELEVATED POSITION TO KEEP SAID PIT CUSHIONSUFFICIENTLY ELEVATED SO THAT IMPACT OF A BOWLING BALL WILL NOT INITIATEA PINSETTING CYCLE, TO PERMIT THE ROLLING OF A SHADOW BALL.